Budapest amongst leaders

Anna Pakulniewicz

Journalist

Ania covers the Baltic states’ real estate markets, architecture and urban planning in Warsaw as well as interior design. She is also the co-founder of Eurobuild TV. Among others, she has been employed by TVN CNBC, PAP Insider, WBJ (The Observer), Poland Monthly and IMM. She graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics, majoring in international relations. She has also completed postgraduate studies in macroeconomic analysis. In addition to this, she studied Lithuanian philology

HUNGARY The CEE hotel market has seem rapid growth over the last three years both in terms of hotel performance and transaction volumes due to the rapid expansion of the tourism industry. Within the region, the Budapest hotel market has seen exceptional growth, with RevPAR growth outpacing other capital cities in the region, according to Colliers International's latest hotel market study.

Additionally, Budapest has a significant hotel pipeline with 2,500 hotel rooms expected to be handed over the coming three years. In 2017, a record 8.9 mln guest nights were recorded in the Hungarian capital, which is 6.9 pct higher than in the previous year. The capital city is still the location most visited by foreign guests, with almost 90 pct of overnight stays in the Budapest market being attributed to foreigners in 2017.

Colliers examined the key hotel market performance indicators such as RevPAR, ADR and occupancy rate in Prague, Bratislava and Warsaw. According to the real estate advisory company, Budapest has the second highest ADR and RevPAR and is in third place following Prague and Warsaw when it comes to the occupancy rates.

“Budapest’s fast growth in recent years was achieved despite the accompanying strong expansion of the city’s Airbnb market. According to our research, Budapest can be considered a mature market in terms of Airbnb supply, with a ratio of Airbnb listings to hotel rooms almost as high as that of London. Even though the Hoteliers in each segment notice Airbnb’s presence, this is still considered the main competitor of budget/economy hotels in the city centre. However, it is expected that Airbnb’s impact in the upscale/luxury segment will be more significant when it launches its new premium services - Airbnb Plus and Airbnb Beyond,” says Tamás Steinfeld, head of research for Colliers International Hungary.